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On April 29, Quaintance committed to Arizona State, a team coming off a 14–18 season that had made the tournament just five times in the past 20 years, never advancing beyond the second round. But the Sun Devils had something those other programs lacked: a high-six-figure donation from NBA superstar James Harden to his alma mater’s Sun Angel collective, Front Office Sports has learned. Harden’s two-year college career came well before college athletes could legally earn money for their NIL (name, image, and likeness), but now he’s involved in helping his school compete with the big boys for top talent. Adding Quaintance helped the Sun Devils sign a top-10 recruiting class heading into this season.
Harden held a team minicamp in Phoenix during the week of Sept. 9, hosting two-a-day workouts with the entire team at Arizona State University, capped off by a softball game for teammates and staff members. Harden paid for every player's expenses for the trip, from his co-star Leonard to the players on Exhibit 10 contracts.
Alex Schiffer: James Harden said Cam Thomas reminds him of himself, but Thomas is a better scorer than he was coming out of ASU. Harden was Thomas’ favorite player growing up and The Beard said he can see where Thomas has tried to take parts of his game and put it into his own.
The Jayhawks basketball team gained some additional depth for the upcoming season, as Arizona State transfer Remy Martin withdrew his name from the NBA Draft on July 6.
Justin Grasso: ASU’s Josh Christopher says that he has met with the #Sixers at the #NBACombine. He said it went “Amazing” and cracked a smile
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While there are other non-White majority owners in U.S. pro sports, Jordan remains the lone Black controlling owner of any of the 150 teams in the five major men’s leagues. Diversity in team ownership is important, particularly in leagues and sports where majority Black labor generates the profits, because a range of viewpoints and experience in the room where decisions are made is crucial to growth and success, experts say. “The closer (diverse investors are) to the big room of owners, the better off the league can be in terms of doing positive, and frankly, not screwing up,” said Kenneth Shropshire, a noted African-American academic and author who today is CEO of the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University.
For the last five summers, Harden has returned to Tempe, Arizona, to work out. He trains and develops a relationship with the players. Dort, a freshman last season at Arizona State, remembers Harden’s visit. “We got some work in,” said Dort, who regularly wore Harden’s signature sneaker during the season, but not in this series. “I’ve heard the horror stories of those guys competing out there,” said Burno, who wasn’t allowed to watch the open gym sessions due to NCAA rules.
Gina Mizell: ASU’s Zylan Cheatham is part of the #Suns’ second group of draft workouts today.
ASU’s Zylan Cheatham is part of the #Suns’ second group of draft workouts today. pic.twitter.com/0V4hLXvSlX
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) June 1, 2019
According to co-author Ty Tang, a graduate student in psychology at Arizona State University, the idea for the study emerged from conversations with his advisor, Michael McBeath, about subjective perception, particularly of time. This naturally evolved into how this subjective perception plays out in sports, specifically arguments over who touched the ball last before it went out of bounds in basketball. Tang proposed a series of three experiments to determine if the players might genuinely experience hitting the ball before their opponents in such scenarios. It wasn't the chaotic environment of a live basketball game, but it allowed them to control the variables to produce a robust study.
Doug Haller: Former ASU guard Tra Holder plans to play for the 76ers in the NBA Summer League. I believe @Anthony_Totri had this first.
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Focus and decision-making can be a struggle for someone diagnosed with ADD. And Felix, described at that time in his life as “wayward” by his former ASU assistant coach Dedrique Taylor, became overwhelmed and took the difficult path. He continued to play basketball but gave every dime of his student-athlete stipend to support the mother of his child. Broke and virtually homeless, Felix spent parts of the season couch-surfing and living out of his car. His unsettled life showed on the court. One night after a game, Taylor stopped Felix for a “come to Jesus meeting” in the parking lot. Felix sprawled out on his car in tears, finally confessing the weight on his shoulders.
Doug Haller: Former ASU guard Jamelle McMillan will coach the New Orleans Pelicans in NBA Summer League. McMillan, 28, has been w/ New Orleans since 2012
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